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Viscoelasticity in carbon nanotube composites

Nature Materials volume 4, pages 134–137 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Polymer composites reinforced by carbon nanotubes have been extensively researched1,2,3,4 for their strength and stiffness properties. Unless the interface is carefully engineered, poor load transfer between nanotubes (in bundles) and between nanotubes and surrounding polymer chains may result in interfacial slippage1,2 and reduced performance. Interfacial shear, although detrimental to high stiffness and strength, could result in very high mechanical damping, which is an important attribute in many commercial applications. We previously reported5 evidence of damping in nanocomposites by measuring the modal response (at resonance) of cantilevered beams with embedded nanocomposite films. Here we carry out direct shear testing of epoxy thin films containing dense packing of multiwalled carbon nanotube fillers and report strong viscoelastic behaviour with up to 1,400% increase in loss factor (damping ratio) of the baseline epoxy. The great improvement in damping was achieved without sacrificing the mechanical strength and stiffness of the polymer, and with minimal weight penalty. Based on the interfacial shear stress (∼0.5 MPa) at which the loss modulus increases sharply for our system, we conclude that the damping is related to frictional energy dissipation during interfacial sliding at the large, spatially distributed, nanotube–nanotube interfaces.

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Figure 1: Test coupons used for damping characterization.
Figure 2: Viscoelastic shear-mode characterization tests.
Figure 3: Complex modulus characterization results.
Figure 4: Effect of shear strain amplitude on damping.

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Acknowledgements

N.K. and P.A. acknowledge funding support from the US National Science Foundation (Faculty Early Career Development Award and NSEC Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures Award) and the US Army Research Office through the Structures and Dynamics Program. PK was supported by NSF grant DMR 134725.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, 12180, New York, USA

    Jonghwan Suhr & Nikhil Koratkar

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, 12180, New York, USA

    Pawel Keblinski & Pulickel Ajayan

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  1. Jonghwan Suhr
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  2. Nikhil Koratkar
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  3. Pawel Keblinski
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  4. Pulickel Ajayan
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Correspondence to Nikhil Koratkar.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Suhr, J., Koratkar, N., Keblinski, P. et al. Viscoelasticity in carbon nanotube composites. Nature Mater 4, 134–137 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1293

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